I'm stuck - knife party "whoop" synths

[Deathadder99]

I've been trying for months now to get the whoop sounds knife party uses, but mine sound so weak and bad in comparison. They either sound too thin or lack the harshness in the top end. I've tried everything I can think of - using noise, scream filter and resonance automation, distortion, saws instead of squares... Does anyone have any tips? All the tutorials I found on YouTube are crap and don't get the sound anywhere near as full and harsh as KP does.

[PillowFight]

I've been trying for months now to get the whoop sounds knife party uses, but mine sound so weak and bad in comparison. They either sound too thin or lack the harshness in the top end. I've tried everything I can think of - using noise, scream filter and resonance automation, distortion, saws instead of squares... Does anyone have any tips? All the tutorials I found on YouTube are crap and don't get the sound anywhere near as full and harsh as KP does.

First off, find the right waveform/octave you feel like using. Personally I use square saw with the WT position in the middle

Performer on the pitch and scream filter cutoff, dimension expander, voicing to 2, pan position all the way to one of the sides, add distortion or FX to taste

[Deathadder99]

I've been trying for months now to get the whoop sounds knife party uses, but mine sound so weak and bad in comparison. They either sound too thin or lack the harshness in the top end. I've tried everything I can think of - using noise, scream filter and resonance automation, distortion, saws instead of squares... Does anyone have any tips? All the tutorials I found on YouTube are crap and don't get the sound anywhere near as full and harsh as KP does.

First off, find the right waveform/octave you feel like using. Personally I use square saw with the WT position in the middle

Performer on the pitch and scream filter cutoff, dimension expander, voicing to 2, pan position all the way to one of the sides, add distortion or FX to taste

Thanks for the prompt reply. What kind of shape do you use for the perfomer? Curves or straight up triangles?:)

[PillowFight]

I've been trying for months now to get the whoop sounds knife party uses, but mine sound so weak and bad in comparison. They either sound too thin or lack the harshness in the top end. I've tried everything I can think of - using noise, scream filter and resonance automation, distortion, saws instead of squares... Does anyone have any tips? All the tutorials I found on YouTube are crap and don't get the sound anywhere near as full and harsh as KP does.

First off, find the right waveform/octave you feel like using. Personally I use square saw with the WT position in the middle

Performer on the pitch and scream filter cutoff, dimension expander, voicing to 2, pan position all the way to one of the sides, add distortion or FX to taste

Thanks for the prompt reply. What kind of shape do you use for the perfomer? Curves or straight up triangles?:)

I personally prefer curves, the deepest ones possible, but that's just my personal preference. It's all about how it sounds mate, try both and see which you enjoy better

[Sure_Fire]

Most of knife party's whoop and lazer synths utilise the ol' "sine/triangle oscs four octaves apart with sine shaping" trick. Then some classic tube, parabolic shaper and external stereo widening/reverb. Also play with the pitch envelope to get the desired sound, I like using a quick descend then ascend to give it more of a bouncy feel.

[Deathadder99]

Thanks!!!!! I would never have thought of those myself. Sounds so much more like what I'm looking for.

[mthrfnk]

Are you the guy that sent me an email wanting the .ksd for this?

[Deathadder99]

Yes I am, I loved that synth in your song! I'd like to see how you made it if you wouldn't mind sharing. I'm getting some really sick sounds at the moment.

[ARTFX]

Another one of the Knife Party woop synths is made in Massive by using one square wave osc, envelope to the pitch about +24 or +36 (decay level to zero, short decay time, little attack), then add an LFO to the pitch too on 0.25 to 0.5 (crank LFO speed up to full), this fattens up that sound, makes it grittier. Maybe add some extra voices.

[YeahItsMe]

Another one of the Knife Party woop synths is made in Massive by using one square wave osc, envelope to the pitch about +24 or +36 (decay level to zero, short decay time, little attack), then add an LFO to the pitch too on 0.25 to 0.5 (crank LFO speed up to full), this fattens up that sound, makes it grittier. Maybe add some extra voices.

^^Best answer so far. I was going to say 1 square -12pitch mod with envelope. 2 voices slightly detuned. 30-40% dry/wet chorus. Mod env with no attack and quick delay (mod it with a macro/knob). Use exact copy of 1st osc onto 2nd for more spread. In massive use a little phase mod. Feel free to add an extremely short delay/reverb. Add distortion or another exact copy of 1st osc into a 3rd with a lowered pitch.

There's a great tutorial on YOUTUBE

[Jack Little]

I find that a combination of a high pitched saw and formant saw do the trick if phased correctly.

OSC 1: Saw set to formant, pitched to -24. Amp 100%
OSC 2: Saw set to spectrum, pitched to +24. Amp in between 2 and 3 o'clock.

Throw a parabolic shaper on insert 1 and set dry/wet and drive to 100%

Then maybe boost the high in the EQ.

**The important bit**
Go to the OSC tab and tick "restart via gate". Then set the phase of osc2 to something like 160 degrees, play around until you find the sweet spot.

**The "whoop" **
Pitch envelope on both oscillators, set to -24. The envelope's attack should be 0, decay just under 9 o'clock, and level to zero. That it pitches up rapidly making a "whoop"

Should sound pretty spot on to internet friends etc

Set it to monophonic in the voicing tab if you want the glide between notes like in power glove or their unison remix.